A California judge on Wednesday consolidated more than 40 pending state court claims against Toyota relating to an alleged safety defect that caused cars to accelerate out of control. The claims include consumer-fraud class action and personal injury lawsuits. Judge Carl West of the Los Angeles County Superior Court recommended that the state court lawsuits [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Amos Guiora of the University of Utah College of Law says that the DC Circuit’s willingness to provide the US executive branch legal cover for its denial of detainee rights runs counter to proven counterterrorism principles… The DC Circuit Court’s recent decision overturning a holding extending habeas corpus rights to Bagram detainees [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday ordered the release of Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Hassen . Hassen had been initially detained in March 2002 following a raid in Faisalabad by Pakistani security forces. He has maintained throughout his detention that he had traveled to Pakistan to [...]
UNICEF expressed concern Wednesday over Guantanamo Bay detainee and former child soldier Omar Khadr . Khadr was arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 at the age of 15 after he allegedly threw a grenade that killed on soldier and injured another. The statement held that recruitment and use of child soldiers is a war crime and [...]
President Dorit Beinisch of the Supreme Court of Israel on Wednesday criticized the Israeli government for ignoring an injunction against building an access road on Palestinian lands. The road would connect two West Bank settlements – Hayovel, a settlement that is illegal under Israeli law, and the legal Eli settlement. Beinisch ordered the government to [...]
US lawmakers are currently considering a Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill containing a section that would allow increased investigation by the Pentagon into the practices of lawyers representing Guantanamo Bay detainees. Section 1037 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 would allow the Pentagon's inspector general to conduct investigations if there [...]
Kristine Long, Pitt Law '11, traveled to Belgrade, Serbia, for a pre-moot prior to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria… The conflict between Kosovo and Serbia is so contentious that it seemed appropriate to follow my recent article about Kosovo's independence with an article from the Serbian perspective. Luckily, I [...]
Lehman Brothers Holdings on Wednesday filed suit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. for allegedly "siphoning" off billions of dollars in "critically-needed" assets days before the investment bank filed for a record-breaking bankruptcy. JPMorgan was Lehman's main short-term lender before its collapse and acted acted as a middleman between Lehman and its investors. In the complaint, [...]
The Obama administration confirmed Tuesday that it will send 1,200 National Guard troops to the US-Mexican border in an effort to deter drug smuggling and illegal immigration. They will join the 300 National Guard troops and 26,000 border and customs officials already stationed at the border. The troops will assist border agents in intelligence, surveillance, [...]
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Wednesday introduced legislation that would establish a single national securities regulatory body to replace the current system managed by individual provinces and territories. The Canadian Securities Act would establish the Canadian Securities Regulatory Authority (CSRA) , replacing the current "passport" system, which allows provincial authorities to issue registration recognized [...]
